Professor Layton and the House of Illusions
by XfoxxbloodX
Summary: It started when the Professor received two mysterious letters...from the same person! The first asked polietly for his help, but the second, arriving minutes after the first, begged for him to stay away. What is going on?
1. The Letters

I've just recently gotten back into the Layton games, so if I get somebody's personality a little (*cough*ALOT*cough*) wrong, feel free to correct me. :3 I'm replaying Diabolical Box, Curious Village, and Unwound Future to refresh my memory. Anyway, here we go! This takes place a few months before Curious Village, as of now.~

…**Chapter One: The Letters**

It was a normal afternoon on a normal Tuesday of a normal week. The Professor was just packing up his things, as he'd just finished his last lesson of the day. Finished putting the last paper into place, he shut the briefcase and lifted it off the desk, making for the door.

This is Professor Hershel Layton. He astounded everyone by becoming a professor at the same University he attended at just 27 years old. From his top hat to his shoes, Professor Layton is the most well-mannered gentleman you'd find anywhere. He's always ready to help anyone in need, and, like all British gentlemen, loves a cup of tea in the morning.

Now, he's heading for home in his little red car dubbed, by Luke, the 'Laytonmobile'. At first, the professor had rejected this idea, but it had stuck, and what was done was done. Minding his hat, he shut the door and started home.

What greeted him on the steps was a rather unusual sight. Sitting there, apparently waiting, was a boy no more than eleven years old. He had a pale blue cap on his head, and some of his light brown hair poked out the front in between his eyes. He wore a blue sweater, the same blue as his flat hat, with a white collar to it and viridian shorts. His brown satchel sat beside him, apparently forgotten as he leaped to his feet the minute he heard the car approaching. Dashing down the steps to the man just shutting the door, Layton turned around and nearly ran into him.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Luke ignored this. "Professor, it's so strange!" he exclaimed instead. "I don't have any idea what's going on with them!"

Layton frowned. "Slow down, my boy. What's happened?"

Luke caught himself and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Professor. I'll try to explain more clearly this time." He took a breath to start again, but Layton quickly interrupted him.

"Lt's go inside first," he offered. "Then you can tell me." Luke nodded and followed. Layton stopped and picked the mail up from the box beside the door before turning the key and going inside.

…

Once Luke had come down from the clouds again, Layton had him explain more thoroughly what he had been doing.

"Well, it's weird," the boy said, making a strange face. "I came home and then I remembered you were still teaching. We had an Early Release Day at school," he added. "It wasn't a big deal." He looked out the window, remembering. "The mailman came, right on time. He nodded to me and put the letters in your box. But there was this one that had caught my attention. It was kind of yellowish and large. There was a name on it, but I didn't read it."

Layton cast a quizzical look at his 'apprentice'. "So you went snooping through my mail, did you?"

Luke quickly shook his head. "No, Professor. A gentleman never does that. I figured it was nothing and went back to solving my puzzle. But then, just before you came, the mailman came back, looking rather confused."

"He came back?"

Luke nodded to the table. "Yeah. He looked at me and asked if he'd delivered to this address yet. I said yes, and he scratched his head. 'That's odd,' he remarked, looking at the letter in his hand. 'I guess I forgot one.' And Professor, here's the weird part! _It looked just like that other yellow one he brought._" Luke was now staring earnestly into his mentor's face.

Layton made no reply. He set his cup of tea down and leafed through the small pile of mail on his table. If Luke was right… he brought the first letter out, and found the second at the bottom. They did, indeed, look identical. It was the same handwriting, the same wax seal on the back, the same name, address, everything. Even down to how the addresser had put a flourish on the 'L' in 'Layton'. However the second one seemed much more rushed, as the name in the corner was smudged.

"Yeah, those," Luke said. He pointed to the one that was un-smudged. "That one came first, I think."

Deciding it was probably okay to open it, Layton turned it over. The wax seal was black and held a little fox face with a question mark behind it. The nagging voice in the back of his head said that he should recognize this. It was familiar somehow, but he couldn't remember from where. Pushing it from his mind, he opened the letter.

Inside was a faded piece of paper, looking a little dated. The scrawled handwriting was a bit difficult to make out. _If it was any worse, we'd have to translate it,_ he thought wryly. "Let's see…"

…

"'To my dear Hershel Layton,

It's been a long time, hasn't it, Professor? It feels like forever ago that you and I have been in the same room. You probably don't remember me very well, but trust me, you will in a minute. Anyway, getting back to the letter, I have a request. Recently I've made a breakthrough in my research, but some things just don't add up. I've approached it from most ways, but can't figure out how to get it to make sense. If you could stop by my house to lend me a hand, I'd be very grateful. There are directions on the back.

Truthfully Yours,

Nazo'"

…

Luke crinkled his face. "Nazo? Who's that?"

The professor slowly set the letter down, lost in thought. Nazo…that was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. He came back to reality with Luke waving his hand frantically in front of his face.

"Hey, Professor!"

"Hmm?" He looked up. "Oh, my apologies, Luke."

Luke still wore his dubious expression but let it slide. "So who's Nazo, Professor?"

"She was student of mine," he replied. "It was a while ago. In fact, it's been nearly five years now. It was particular because she had such an unusual name. She was often bullied for it. In that year, she was the first Freshman in my class for a while. She was a very…queer individual." He smiled a little at the memory. "The older students didn't know what she was doing there, but she tried her best and graduated in the top five. She passed my course with flying colors. We had a lot of the same interests. She spent hours after school working on homework. One day, I decided to stay after to see why."

…

_A young girl, younger than all the others, sat in the front row, flanked by two older boys. She looked extremely nervous to be there and kept glancing towards the door. A blank piece of paper lay in front of her, and she kept reaching for her pen and back again. The bell rang, and class started. Layton looked up from his desk._

"_Hello to all of you," he said. "Welcome to Gressenheller University. For some of you, you're coming back after summer break, but others are just joining us for their first time." He scanned the class for the Freshmen he'd been told that was joining them. There was an extremely nervous girl in the front. That must be her. "Now, I'm going to launch straight into what we'll be covering in this term."_

_The whole class, every word he spoke, the girl was writing furiously. The elder kids on either side looked at each other over her bent head like they thought she was insane. When class ended, there was a swarm for the door. The last one left was the Freshman. She was packing up her things as quickly as possible, but her backpack was crammed full. Deciding it was full enough, she picked up the remaining two books in her arms and headed for the door, nearly toppling over backwards because of its weight. She waved to him as she left._

_He watched her the entire time. He'd never seen such a queer Freshman. He looked down at the roster of names. Who was she…ah, there. _

"_Nazo Murray," he read aloud. "I'll keep a close eye on her."_

_A few days later, Professor Layton stayed after in his classroom to meet with Nazo. She was coming from across the school back to his room on an agreement that she'd be doing extra credit. There was a puzzle on his desk. He wanted to see if she could solve it._

_It was a simple cube with nine squares on each face. Two or three numbers were fitted into these squares. A small pile of the same numbers lay beside it on the desk. There was a knock at the door, and it slid open to reveal Nazo with her fifty-pound backpack._

"_Sorry I'm late, Professor," she said breathlessly. She dropped her backpack at her desk and sat at it. "What will we be doing today?"_

_He beckoned her over, nodding to the chair in front of his desk. She hesitantly got up and crossed the room and sat in it. Her attention was immediately drawn to the cube._

"_I see you've noticed the puzzle," he said._

_She nodded._

"_Well, your task today is to solve it."_

_She looked up quickly. "That's it? Just solve it?"_

_He nodded. "Just solve it."_

_She bit her lip for a minute, then picked up the cube and started to examine it. In no time at all, she'd gotten the first side done. Each side was solved quicker and quicker until she was putting numbers into their places at record speed. Not even ten minutes passed before she set it back down on the desk, solved._

_He nodded in approval. It had taken him about six and a half minutes to figure out the combination of numbers required to solve the cube, and it had taken her only seven and three quarters. He was impressed. "Good work, Nazo."_

"_Thanks, Professor," she said. "Although, it wasn't a fair test."_

_He looked up, puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"_

_She held up her hand. In it lay a piece of the cube. "You rigged the cube," she explained. "This can only fit inside the cube, but you can't open it until you unsolve it." She took off the two on the side facing her, and the square dropped down onto the desk on a hinge. She placed the piece inside, lifted the side back up, and replaced the two._

_He smiled. "Good eye."_

_She smiled too. "Hey, it's all in the name. After all…my name, Nazo, means 'riddle'."_

…

The Professor leaned back in his chair. "She was the only one besides myself who could solve that in under ten minutes. She was my star student that year. She was the only one who managed to translate the things in ancient languages fluently. She learned them all and could recite anything I asked of her without looking at her book of notes."

Luke was impressed. Someone who could rival his mentor and still had all pieces of her mind in the right place? Now this was someone he had to meet.

"Read the other one, Professor," he encouraged.

Professor Layton opened the other letter and unfolded it. "Let's see here." The writing on this one was much harder to read. It was rushed and uneven.

…

"'Dear Professor Layton,

Please, you mustn't come! No matter what the other letter says, you can't come here! It's dangerous! You mustn't—'"

…

He stopped reading. Luke tipped his head to the side. "Why'd you stop, Professor?"

"Because that's all there is, Luke," he replied evenly. An ominous red blotch stained the paper. "My intuition is saying that we have a mystery on our hands. A very…vexing mystery."

Luke grinned. "Are we going, Professor?"

"Against my better judgment, yes."

…~-

And that's that. :3


	2. Nazo

Okay, here's chapter two~!

…**~-Chapter Two: Nazo**

The drive didn't take all that long. It turned out that Nazo lived in a small town not far from London, but hardly ever came to the city. The directions on the back of the first letter were coded, and Luke proudly deciphered it so they could be on their way. However, there was a second set of numbers he hadn't figured out, so they dismissed it for the moment.

The little red car pulled into the town. It was simple and had houses and market and all sorts of things a normal little town had. They got out and looked around, but had no idea where Nazo lived. Luke suggested asking someone, which the Professor agreed would be a good idea.

"Um, excuse me," Luke said, tapping a boy not much older than he was on the shoulder. "Could you tell us where Nazo Murray lives?"

The boy glanced over his shoulder at them, then turned around. He looked down at the letter Luke was holding and grinned.

"Pfft. You already know."

Luke frowned. "What?"

He pointed to the letter. "That. On the back. You already know."

Luke raised the letter again, looking at the back. "But…there's just numbers here. These aren't directions."

"Silly, hold it upside down," the boy scoffed.

Luke turned the letter upside down. What he'd thought to be numbers were actually letters written upside down in Nazo's awful handwriting. She'd disguised it, so when you held it right side up, it was just a set of meaningless numbers.

Layton smiled slightly. "It looks like Nazo lives just down Mongolia Street. Could you tell us where Mongolia Street is?"

The boy pointed down a road to their left. "Take that road about a block, then turn right. Mongolia's on your second left. She's the house at the end. Tell her Nick said hi, kay?"

They thanked him and set off. So far, so good. Luke was a bit ashamed that he hadn't seen the other puzzle hidden in the letter, but Layton assured him it happens to everyone. They turned onto Mongolia and headed down it, looking for the last house. It didn't seem quite right to them, and they looked ahead. The road continued through a shallow thicket of trees. This probably led to her house. The two exchanged a glance, then headed in.

The house on the other side wasn't a house at all. It was a _mansion_. The thing was huge. There was a long walkway leading up to the front door, so Layton parked the car before it began.

"Whoa, Professor, you didn't tell me it was this big!" Luke breathed as they got out again.

"I didn't know," he admitted honestly. "When she attended Gressenheller, she was renting an apartment not far from the university. I never saw where she really lived."

The walk up was long and rather quiet. On either side of the sloping stone path was grass that needed to be cut soon and a few withered plants. There was a small pond to Luke's left, but other than that, there wasn't much around. A few trees provided shade, but the one Luke noticed most was a cherry blossom tree not far from the house. It was in bloom, showing off its pink against the gray and brown of the mansion. A few branches hung over the doorway, and it have off a sweet scent.

As they approached the door, Luke saw a note.

"Professor, there's a note on the door," he said, pointing it out.

"Yes. Read it aloud, will you?"

"Sure." Luke ran up to it and started reading. "'To Professor Layton, If you're reading this, then you're here. Didn't you read my letter? Oh well. I guess I piqued your curiosity, didn't I? Well, there's no use trying to warn you away. The door's locked at the moment, but the puzzle under this note will unlock it. I await your arrival in the room by the stairs, on the right. The one with double doors. Your friend, Naz.'" Luke made a face. "Naz? Who's that?"

"The same person who sent us the letters, Luke," Layton replied. "She was often bullied for her name and encouraged people to call her Naz or Nazzy, so it wasn't as strange." As he spoke, he'd solved the door's lock, and it opened with a rather ominous creak. They headed in, looking around. It seemed bigger on the inside, with two open arches for doorways on the left, but doors on the right. Not far down the hall, there was a staircase that went up and turned back towards them when it hit the wall. There was a large window beside the stairs, and to the right of that, a room with double doors. That must be the one Nazo was in. Luke approached hesitantly, and then they both pushed one door open.

The room was a complete mess. It was worse than the Professor's study, which was a maze of its own if you were trying to find something. Piles of paper and books were scattered every few feet all around the rectangular space. To their immediate right was a bookcase crammed full, and to the Professor's left was a hat rack. Only one hat hung on it currently: an orange baseball cap. There was a table on the far wall, to their right, which held various gadgets that Luke couldn't make heads or tails of. A window was slightly to the right, on the farthest wall from them, with light blue curtains that remained stationary because there was no breeze. To the left of that was a desk piled high with papers, books, and other things. Right beside it, hidden in shadow, was a safe. Across from the desk, on the other wall, was another bookshelf. This one wrapped around to about half the length of the room, but remained on the far wall. Across from it was a shelf that held alternating light purple and black bins full of things.

Right in the middle of the room was a table with a few stacks of paper on it. To its left were two armchairs, an on the right was a couch the same length as the table.

A girl sat on the couch with one arm behind her head and the other holding a book in front of her. Her feet were crossed at the ankles and were put up on the other armrest. She wore a purple and blue plaid shirt with a collar of the same pattern. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. She only had the first button, closest to the top, of the plaid shirt buttoned, and there was a plain white tank top underneath it. She wore blue jeans and dark blue sneakers. Luke almost thought her hair was black, but as the light fell on it, he realized it was just a very, very dark brown. It came down to about the middle of her shoulder blades. A caramel clump hung in her right eye, and it looked like she had recently tried to tuck it behind her ear, because a few strands were still stuck back there. Her eyes were a deep blue, almost the color of midnight. Luke didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't a young girl in plaid.

She glanced up from her book as she heard the door opening. As she saw who it was, she took her feet down and sat up. "Come in, come in," she said, waving them over. "Don't mind the mess. I tired cleaning it last week, but then I couldn't find anything I needed." She shrugged. "Well, you try. I think it's a trait I picked up from you, Professor." She grinned and shifted her gaze to Luke. "And you must be Luke. I've heard about you." She gave a start. "Oh, wait, I forgot to introduce myself! Sorry. My name's Nazo. I'm the one who sent the letter."

"Hi," Luke said cautiously.

She put a hand over her mouth. "Did I do it again? Sorry. I have this habit of not being able to stop talking once I start. I also talk kinda fast, so feel free to tell me to slow down or anything." When she saw that they still hadn't moved, she waved them over again. "Come in, I said. I'm no stranger."

So, they crossed the room and each sat in an armchair.

"There, see? Much better." Nazo put a red bookmark into her book and set it down on the table. "So…it's been a while." She was speaking calmly and coolly now.

Layton nodded. "It has."

She was nodding slowly in the awkward silence that followed. No one said anything until Luke spoke up.

"The Professor says you were a student of his," he piped up. "Is that true?"

Nazo nodded, looking relieved to having something to talk about again. "Yep. Five years ago, I think it was. Yeah, five years."

"What have you been up to since then?" Layton asked, curious. "I haven't heard hide nor tail of anything you've been doing."

She shrugged again. "Not much. I went to America a few weeks ago to study some evidence that would've been connected to what I've been researching, but so far, it's been a dud. I heard from one of my colleagues the other day that he was going to Egypt to investigate something, and I'm awaiting his reply." She rubbed her face. "The people in question are driving me up a wall. They speak in riddles and puzzles, and never get to the point."

"What people?" Luke asked.

"Here." She picked up the book she'd been reading and flipped it to a page marked with a green sticky. "Take a look at this." She passed it to Luke, tapping the page. "This is a bit of the tablet I'm deciphering. The translation is below."

"Let's see…" Luke murmured. "'A flame burns brighter than dark, and dark engulfs flame. Peace defeats war, and war shatters all. One savior killed, the rest to go.'" He frowned. "What does this mean?"

"Exactly," she replied. "It's giving me a headache." She glared sourly at the book. "But since I'm the only one who can decipher it, I don't have much of a choice."

Luke looked up, suspicious. "Are you sure this is right? What if you're not really Nazo?"

She stared at him for a minute, then started giggling. "Well, Professor, you've got yourself a wary apprentice. I would expect nothing less." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Okay, Luke. How's this for a test? Look through this book here and pick any symbol you like and draw it. I will define it exactly as it's written in my notes without looking at them. Sound fair to you?"

He nodded, picking up the other book in question. He leafed through it for a few moments, then found one he thought would be hard. He picked up a pencil and sketched it, then turned it around to show her. Nazo took one glance at it and a small smile tugged at her lips.

"'A manifestation of the impossible above the plain of reality,'" she said automatically. "'A dream.'"

Luke looked impressed. "Wow, you are really good."

"Thanks." She grinned. "Now…" She tailed off, looking confused. "Sorry, lost my train of thought here. What were we doing?" Before they could reply, she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! Here, this is what I'm working on."

She picked up a piece of paper and held it out. Symbols were scratched on it, and underneath them were lines of English. It was rather strange in the way it was written, but Layton and Luke had faith in Nazo's translating ability.

The Professor read it aloud. "'From under the sky, and above the earth, rings a tone so loud it shatters the heavens, and so soft it lulls the sheep to bed. Our world is peaceful and full of war. We write today to record our lives and to leave no trace of what's left behind. We rest in sorrowful joy.'"

…~-

So what's the mystery of this civilization? You'll have to stay tuned to find out. xD


	3. The Phone Call

Here's chapter three. :3 Sorry for the wait, school's been evil. I hope you guys like it!

…**Chapter Three: A Phone Call**

The way the translation was worded was extremely odd. Nazo assured them both that she'd done her best to keep it how it was originally written, and not tried to make up a puzzle. While Layton thought about how best to approach the situation, Nazo had begun pulling the bins down one by one and looking through them. Luke decided to help her find what she needed rather than wrap his head around such an impossible task.

"What are you looking for?" he asked curiously.

"A box," she replied. "It's dark brown with a green triangle on it. It's somewhere in these bins." She pulled out a lopsided metal rod and stared at it. "So that's where I put it. Not what I was looking for, but now I know."

Luke had to fight the urge to laugh. He dug through boxes with her, and eventually found it. "Is this it?" He held it up. It was about the same size as his fists, and had a green triangle on the top.

Nazo nodded. "Yep, that's it. Thanks, Luke." She took it and brought it to the desk by the door, the one with all of the miscellaneous objects. Nazo opened it and took out a square part and flipped it this way and that. Luke watched her, intrigued.

"What are you building?"

"I don't know yet," she replied. "It's a puzzle my colleague sent me a few days ago. He needed me to stop calling him to ask if he'd found anything every five minutes." She grinned. "But as soon as I'm done with this, I'm going to bug him again." She picked up another part and flipped it around. Seeming pleased, she put them both together and joined that with another piece. "There we go."

The translation had Layton stumped. He turned around. "Do you have any other information on these people? Right now, it's quite hard to work with."

"Sorry, but we don't have much," she replied, turning the swivel chair to face him. "There's that, and a few more pieces of ancient writing, but nothing will tell us who they are. I nicknamed them the Nazoians." She giggled behind her hand. "Because they speak in riddles, see? But once we find who they really were, we'll stop calling them that," she added once she noticed he wasn't laughing too.

He sighed a little. "Well, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not promising anything."

Before Nazo could reply, a phone rang out in the hall somewhere. She rolled her eyes. "That'll be Mark. I'll be right back, this'll take less than ten seconds." She stood up and left the room, disappearing from sight. Luke listened.

"Resident riddle solver, Nazo speaking," she said. There was a pause. "Oh, hello, Phil. Sorry, I thought you were Mark for a minute. What can I do for you?" Another pause. "Really? But why would you want me there?" There was a third pause, but this one was much longer. Finally, Nazo said, slowly, "You're kidding me." One more. "No, of course, I just wasn't expecting…" Pause. "You've confirmed it? No way. Is it really from their time period?" A very short silence followed, then Nazo said, "All right, I'll be there soon." She hung up, then jumped up and down, screaming, "YES YES YES!" She ran back, poking her head around the door, beaming. "The museum in London received a new piece last night. It's an affirmative from the Nazoian time period we've been finding. They wanted me to come and translate. Wanna tag along?"

"You bet!" Luke exclaimed, leaping to his feet. "Professor, can we go?"

"I don't see why not."

So that was that. The Professor drove back to London with Nazo in the front seat and Luke in the back. Nazo was ecstatic about the news and wouldn't shut up, and quickly drove Luke up a wall. She and Layton had plenty to talk about, as they both studied old things left by dead people. They were having a great time chatting it up while Luke suffered, trying to find something else to take his mind off the two up front.

It was a great relief when they finally arrived, and Nazo managed to put a lid on it. The curator, Phil was his name (Luke mentally kicked himself because it had been so obvious), showed them in. The tablet was in the back, and Nazo quickly looked it up and down, left to right, right to left, down to up, every which way she could think of.

"It does seem to be from the same time," she said absently, as if no one else was there. "Let's see… 'Zero, fifteen, thirty, sixty, one hundred and twenty…' There's a blank here, I can't read it currently, but then it says, 'One above three is twenty, the moon. Three above one is zero, the sun. Up and down, north and east, our world crumbles in perfect harmony.' Then there's another blank. '…fifty is seven's twin, seven is thirty's mother in law.'" She scowled. "And that's it. What the heck? At last I thought we had some straight answers." She passed a hand through her hair, hand on her hips. "This is getting ridiculous."

Phil invited them into his office for tea, which Nazo accepted. She needed to clear her head before she started punching things out of frustration. She folded her hands and closed her eyes, thinking, while the others talked.

"What do you make of it, Ms. Murray?" Phil asked.

She didn't open her eyes. "Shush, Phil, I'm thinking. Never interrupt me when I'm thinking. If my train of thought gets destroyed, I will not be happy."

He grimaced. "That's Nazo for you," he said in a whisper to Layton and Luke. "She means well, though, so you just let it go. When she is in work-mode, she's very touchy."

"Phil, do you have a scan of the tablet?" She still had her eyes shut.

"Yes, I'll fetch it for you."

"Thank you, Phil." She opened one eye. "Maybe I read it wrong…"

When Phil returned, Nazo took a piece of paper and started writing the symbols she saw in rather neat lines. She glanced back and forth, trying to keep the same relative lines, but enlarging the symbols. While she worked, Phil offered to take Luke and Layton on a tour, which they accepted to avoid upsetting Nazo. However, ten minutes in, and there was a scream from back in Phil's office. They all rushed back to the scene, finding a positively delighted Nazo.

"Of course, of course! How could I have been so stupid?" she was exclaiming. "This was the answer all along!"

"What is it? What's happened?" Luke asked.

She held up the transcribed paper. "This, Luke." She turned it upside down and everyone drew in their breath. Upside down, the symbols formed bigger symbols, which Nazo was tapping excitedly.

"Now it reads 'We are here, we will leave our records at the Temple of the Gods.'" She grinned. "Finally we have something that tells us _something_ about these people. They were very intelligent for one. And I do have a few suspicions about where this 'Temple of the Gods' could be located." She leaped to her feet and hugged Phil. "Oh, Phil, I'm sorry I ever yelled at you!"

Phil looked rather flustered. "Uh, all right…you're welcome?"

She beamed again. "I'm so happy right now… I think I have everything I need for the moment." She carefully rolled her transliteration up. "Time for me to head back and study this with the other pieces of writing I have back home."

So that was that. Layton and Luke drove Nazo back home while she read over her scripts carefully. Luke was surprised she didn't get carsick. When they arrived back in town, Nazo got out and then bent over to look in the window.

"You'll come back tomorrow, right?" she asked. "Tomorrow will be fun."

"Why's that?" Luke asked.

She winked. "Tomorrow's karaoke night. The whole village gets together and we all have a lot of fun. You should join us. It'll be fun, I promise."

With slight misgivings, they agreed and drove away, having no idea what they would be in for on Friday night.

…

:3 Karaoke night…xD I had to throw that in here. I've been thinking about it even since I thought up Nazo's design. So, there we'll have it. Look for it either later today or tomorrow~


	4. Karaoke Night

And here's chapter four~ Soon the plot will get going. :3 Actually, next chapter will mark the start of the actual mystery.

…**Chapter Four: Karaoke Night**

True to their word, Layton and Luke returned to Nazo's town the next day after the Professor finished his lessons and Luke was home from school. When the homework was finish and the books put away, they set off.

When they arrived, Nick, the boy who'd they first met when they came yesterday, waved. He was accompanied by two young girls, one of them hiding behind the other shyly. Luke went up and greeted them.  
>"Hi, Nick," he said. "Who are your friends?"<p>

"Hey," Nick replied. He pointed to the taller girl. "This is Lily, and behind her is her younger sister, Emily."

"Hi," Luke said.

"Hello," Lily replied sweetly. "Are you here for the karaoke too?"

Luke nodded. "Yep. Nazo invited us."

"Figures," Nick said, nodding. "Well, see you there."

Nazo met them outside. She was attempting to balance cards on the doorsteps, but it wasn't going to well. They fell over as Layton and Luke approached. She looked up. "Yay, you made it!" she said brightly. "Good. Well, karaoke doesn't start until seven, so until then, you can either wander around or make some tea or something. I'd like to make some for you, but I can't cook to save my life." She grimaced. "Actually, I'd better start practicing my song." She dashed inside and returned with a piece of paper with lyrics scrawled on both sides. Luke tried to see, but she shooed him away, saying, "It's a surprise! I picked it out especially for you guys." So that was that. Layton and Luke wandered the town. The people there turned out to be very friendly and showed them around different places. Luke caught sight of Lily and Emily sitting on a porch, talking, but as soon as Emily saw them, she turned bright red and hid in her sister's shirt. Luke thought this was rather bizarre behavior, but let it go.

When the clock chimed seven, everyone started heading in the same direction. Layton and Luke followed Nick, who gladly showed them the way. He pushed the door open, revealing a rather large room. There were booths that lined the walls, and chairs and tables set up around the perimeter of a dance floor. A raised platform was on the far side of the room, and as they watched, a screen descended from the ceiling. There was a microphone on a stand. Nick led them to a booth about halfway between the stage and the door, where Nazo was sitting, drumming her fingers on the table. When she saw them, she smiled nervously.

"Hi," she said, talking rather quickly, even for her.

"Are you nervous?" Layton asked, taking a seat. Luke sat beside him.

"No," she said quickly, then turned pink. "Well, yeah, actually. I'm always nervous. 'Cept I never talk about it, because then I can't stop, and now I need to shut up again." She clamped her jaw shut, looking flustered.

Nick spotted Lily, said goodbye, and sped away. They talked for a few seconds, then walked off together. Emily glanced between her sister and Luke, then quickly dashed off.

"Do a lot of people sing?" Luke asked instead.

Nazo nodded. "Yeah. Most everyone does. It's great fun. It helps bring the people together, you know? I bet you don't do this in London. Too many people. Here, you walk down to the market, and you know everyone. It's great." She drummed her fingers on the table again. "Hm…well, I'm not going for a while yet. Actually, I think Lily's up second. Have you met her?" Nazo realized she was rambling again, and clamped her mouth shut.

When Lily came on, Nazo spotted Emily scampering over to her. She turned, and Emily whispered something in her ear. She grinned and turned to Luke.

"Luke, Emily here would like to ask you something," she said. Emily stepped out from behind Nazo shyly.

"What is it?" Luke asked, causing Emily to blush.

"Um, well…" she whispered. "I was just wondering…ifyou'dliketodanceiwthme." She turned scarlet and hid behind Nazo again.

Luke grinned. "Sure! Let's go!" He took her hand and led the way to the dance floor to join in with other townsfolk. Emily looked delighted.

Nazo glanced slyly at Layton. "So how about it?" she asked. "Wanna dance?"

He suddenly felt very hot under the collar. "Um, well, I'm not very good," he admonished.

She laughed. "That's okay, none of us are!" She took his hand and hauled him onto the floor. "You need to loosen up sometimes, Professor. Even a gentleman needs some time off."

After the initial awkwardness wore off, they had a great time. Then, after an older man got down from the stage with cheering and applause from everyone, the announcer came up, holding a list.

"All right, Nazo, you're up next!" he said into the mic.

Nazo turned pink. "H-here I go," she said. With some clapping, Nazo made her way up. She took the mic and moved the stand. She looked over. "You'll need the other one," she said. "No, the one beside it. Yeah, that one." She nodded, then said, "Okay, guys, this one's gonna be another J."

"Yay!" someone shouted from the back, which made them all laugh. Most people took their seats. Nick came over to the Professor and Luke.

"What did she mean by 'J'?" Layton asked.

Nick grinned. "Nazo likes to sing songs in other languages. We call them J's because they're usually Japanese. She sings them twice. Once in the original language, and then again in English. It's cool how she does it. If there's two parts, she changes her voice."

She tapped the mic with a finger, then the music came on. It was rather catchy, the chorus especially.

It was rather intriguing how Nazo did it. She went through the whole Japanese song. People clapped, but then it replayed, and she grinned, singing in English this time.

"_The first mystery is why he was alone in his room,  
>Was he drinking a bottle of poisoned wine?<br>Listening quietly to the one-armed detective speak,  
>He continued in front of the girl."<em>

She smiled.

"_The answer is simple.  
>At that point in time, he was destined to die!"<em>

Layton and Luke were intrigued. So this is what she had meant when she'd said she'd picked out a special song. It was a mystery, a riddle.

"_So, who is the culprit?  
>You know the answer to that<br>Because it all happened right in front of your eyes.  
>So, who is the culprit?<br>Even if you don't answer  
>I'll tell you how this crime will end."<em>

"So we have a witness," Layton murmured to himself. "A witness, and a detective, and a dead man."

Nazo continued.

"_The second mystery is why did they fall into the lake  
>And was the culprit really among them?<br>The girl grasped the knife hidden in her pocket  
>The detective didn't realize this and kept talking."<em>

"Ahh," Layton said softly. "So the witness has a knife, does she?"

"_The only mistake in my plan  
>Was letting another detective get involved!<br>So, who is the culprit?  
>The detective easily hits it out of her hand.<br>The girl's last resort!  
>So, who is the culprit?<br>Come, the answer is right in front of you.  
>The name of the person right in front of you!"<em>

Nazo grinned.  
><em>"Say my name!"<em>

Layton was nodding slowly. "Of course."

Luke looked between them. "What? But I thought it was the girl!"

"Shush, she's still singing," Nick hissed.

"_Honestly, I didn't want you to figure it out,  
>I'll show mercy. If you want to run, do it quickly.<br>So, who is the culprit?  
>There isn't just one answer<br>But the means to confirm that is about to disappear.  
>So, who is the culprit?<br>Now, if you don't hurry, my hands will kill you.  
>You don't have much time left!"<em>

Luke was staring at Nazo. "So it was the detective…"

Nazo looked towards Layton and was down to the last verse.

"_So, who is the culprit?" _she asked.  
><em>"You know the answer to that question<br>Because it all happened in front of your eyes.  
>So, who is the culprit?<br>The person standing right in front of you.  
>Come, say that person's name!<em>

_My name!"_

…

:3 You might want to remember this song for later on in the story. It's called Nazotoki (The Riddle Solver Who Can't Solve Riddles) by Kagamine Len. Yeah. You might want to remember that. *nudgewink*


End file.
